New Iraqi prime minister seen as puppet, outsider

Associated Press ^ | June 29, 2004 | Associated Press Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

Date posted online: Tuesday, June 29, 2004
New Iraqi prime minister seen as puppet, outsider


BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iyad Allawi, the prime minister who took power in Iraq on Monday, is dismissed by militant Shiites and Sunnis as a puppet of the Americans. To many Iraqis, he is an out-of-touch "outsider" who has no popular base.

One thing is certain though: the CIA-linked opposition leader-turned-politician seems determined to do everything he can to restore security, including use of some tactics that hark back to Saddam Hussein's days.

The challenge facing Allawi, 58, is twofold: to win the acceptance and cooperation of a mostly skeptical population and to deal with a ruthless and increasingly sophisticated insurgency.

"This government will act randomly like the Governing Council before it," said Khaled Mohammed, a 42-year-old taxi driver.

"It is appointed by the occupier, who does not want anything good to come to our people," he said, speaking from a long line outside a gas station.

"This is a temporary and illegal government," said Shiite cleric Moussa al-Nagi. "Yes, Iyad Allawi is a Shiite, but he is not an Islamist and his thoughts and aspirations have nothing to do with Shiites or Sunnis."

Such sentiments are not uncommon in a nation where many blame the Americans for their daily hardships, the precarious security of the past year and what they see to be the imposition of politicians like Allawi, who was in exile for 30 years before returning to Baghdad last year.

Even after his return, he has spent much of the past year traveling abroad -- so Iraqis have had little chance to get to know the one-time exile opposition leader.

Allawi has been projecting an image of strength and resolve in his public appearances since being named to his post at the beginning of June.

"We will ensure the safety of our people and we will ensure safety of the country," Allawi said in a firm tone of voice when asked about the first thing his government will do.

When reminded by a reporter of the failure of the U.S. military with all its might to suppress the insurgency in more than a year of combat, he said: "The most powerful military helped us in liberating our country and we are very grateful.

"The security of our country and our lives is in our hands ... we have measures that will be declared today and tomorrow to enhance and ensure our security."

Allawi has said his government will pass new laws giving security forces a stronger hand in arrests and allowing them to impose curfews.

He is also planning to recall to active service units of the disbanded Iraqi army to help with the fight against the insurgents.

Such a move could have benefits on two fronts: acquiring the service of seasoned soldiers and depriving insurgents of their expertise. Many army officers -- disenfranchised and embittered by their post-Saddam unemployment -- are known have been advising insurgents in combat tactics.

Saddam's 400,000-strong army was disbanded in May last year by L. Paul Bremer, the American governor of Iraq who handed power to Allawi on Monday. Allawi says he opposed the disbanding, which is widely thought to have prompted noncommissioned and junior officers to join the guerrillas.

Allawi also made other overtures to the army on Monday. He said he would "restore the dignity" of the army, retrain soldiers for civilian jobs or offer them "retirement with dignity and honor."

The often-frowning Allawi coupled his gesture to the army with a strongly worded appeal to former members of Saddam's Baath party, also disbanded by Bremer last year, not to cooperate with Saddam loyalists and to inform authorities of their activities.

Allawi, who was once a senior Baath party member and was later the target of an assassination attempt by Saddam agents that left him hospitalized for months, is known for his pragmatism.

He has said that his CIA links were nothing to be ashamed of since he used them to get rid of Saddam. But for a nation bred on hatred of the United States and sees the acronym CIA as a symbol of evil, it may not be easy for Allawi to explain away those links so easily.

In Fallujah, a turbulent Sunni city west of Baghdad, fighters have an anecdote they share with visitors to show their resentment of the "outsiders" like Allawi.

Soon after U.S. Marines lifted a three-week siege of the city in April, six trucks carrying electrical domestic appliances arrived in Fallujah. On the side of one truck was a banner that read: "A gift from Dr. Iyad Allawi to the people of Fallujah."

The mujahedeen, or Muslim holy warriors, intercepted the convoy and asked the drivers to turn around and head back for Baghdad. The drivers insisted they be allowed to reach the mayor's office.

"We told them: 'You can do that, but we will burn your trucks there' and they quickly left," recalled one fighter, Waiel Sarhan, who said he witnessed the incident.

[PogySailor]

Sounds like they took lessons from the Washington Post:

http://www.commentarypage.com/johnson/johnson062904.php

[Puddleglum]

My god, the media would be kissing the hem of Uncle Joe Stalin's robes if that's what it took to get rid of President Bush. They will do their best to make Uncle Saddam into a martyr and Allawi into a stooge these next few months.

Liberals all want to be dictators anyway and admire ruthlessness if it destroys their detractors. Each one thinks he/she is the enlightened Nietzschean Superman, to whom ordinary morals do not apply.

[Recovering_Democrat]

Wow. It took the AP a whole 24 hours to start pumping out the Dick Gephardt "Miserable Failure" line of reporting.

What a bunch of traitorous, anti-American tripe eaters.

[HenryLeeII]

It's quite telling that they offer no contrary evidence. What--they couldn't find two Iraqis on the street to say something positive? If this had been an article talking about how Iraqis like Allawi, they would have felt the need to "balance" that with some negative comments.

Well, according to the latest AP/CBS/New York Times/CNN/ABC/NBC/MSNBC/Newsweek/NPR poll, 93% of all Iraqis harken back to the days of rape rooms, mass graves, disappearing relatives fed into shredders, and living in poverty while France, Russia, Germany, and the U.N. soaked up their oil-for-terror-and-WMD blood money...the other 7% are seen as CIA-backed outsiders.

[Steve_Seattle]

Headlines you'll never see:

"To many Americans, Michael Moore is a fat, lying slob"

"To many Americans, John Kerry is a flip-flopping, horse-faced bore"

[CaptRon]

I don't know the leaning of this publication, but the headline is sure misleading when you see that the first sentence explains that it is the Islamlfascists that hold this view.

[First_Salute]

PS

The networks get all there numbers that you see on the TV, from the AP.

My comments are based upon what I discovered from looking into the matter, the night after the 1996 elections.

As I said before, there may be more accuracy, but I doubt it.

My point is, that the people, in general, think that the numbers shown on the TV are the actual count; they are unaware of the estimates included.

An estimate at a precinct, might go something like this:

An AP agent counts all the people who come out of the door. The ask questions of the people leaving, and then make an estimate of the whole, based upon the sampling of the few who were willing to talk about their choices.

Those estimates are reported to the AP center that in turn, the TV networks monitor for the numbers that they will choose to report on the TV screen.

The network numbers differ, because of the fluid situation and because the networks also "balance" the estimates with their own.

This gets to be a problem for close races and can mislead people.

My own two cents is, that no reporting should be permitted for 24 hours, that is, until the evening after election day.

[bannie]

Each [liberal] thinks he/she is the enlightened Nietzschean Superman, to whom ordinary morals do not apply.

EXACTLY!!!!! Buncha' Leopold and Loeb's

[Steve_Seattle]

"Despite [(1) good news in Iraq or (2) a /pro-Bush development anywhere/anytime] many/some say [followed by negative spin] . . . "

This is the standard boilerplate the press uses to minimize any good news pertaining to the war in Iraq or to Bush in general. The good news is always followed by selective negative comments which diminish or totally negate the impact of the good news.

[saquin]

The media is rapidly becoming a parody of itself. I actually thought this was satire when I first started reading the article.

[MeekOneGOP]

Has the AP been engaged by Zarqawi to put out press releases .....

It sure sounds like it in this article doesn't it?

[Cicero]

AP, agents of evil.

[Nevermore]

Such sentiments are not uncommon in a nation where many blame the Americans...

Carefully crafted BS: "many" is far different from "most". "Many" think that Elvis is alive. "Many" think that Bill Clinton was a great president. There are altogether too "many" mentally challenged people out there.

[petercooper]

like these puppets?

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks for clarifying that process by AP. It makes more sense to me now.

My 2 cents on the matter is that on local elections, NO reports on the elections should be released until ALL the local polling places are CLOSED. On state elections, NO reports on the elections should be released until ALL the state polling places are CLOSED. And on National elections, NO reports on the elections should be released until ALL National polling places are CLOSED. Any media violating that should face jail time !

It is just PURE BS for the media to affect voter turnout or lack of turnout. And until something is done to stop it, it will continue. It's bad enough we have to fight the 'RATS voter fraud (dead voters, etc.).

< /rant >

[Califelephant]

How do I send a correction or letter to the editor?

Send an email to info@ap.org and it will be forwarded to the reporter or editor.

[MeekOneGOP]

LOL !

[Fiddlstix]

[snopercod]

Ahhh....the infamous "Voter News Service".

The result of the 2000 Presidential Election was called, recalled, called again and recounted. On November 7, 2001, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, ABC and the Associated Press had all called Florida for Gore and all before 8 p.m. EST. The polls in the panhandle were still open when the presidential race was projected.

The Voter News Service ("VNS") was established in 1994 by ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and the Associated Press with Fox News service becoming a member in 1997. In providing an election projection, VNS collects survey responses, or exit polls, actual vote tallies as well as the vote count from precincts and counties. Based upon this information, VNS provides data and analysis to all of the members equally. In 2000, VNS projected that Gore would take Florida at 7:52 p.m. This projection was recalled at 9:40 p.m., which resulted in media recalls and later erroneous projections.

Following the 2000 Presidential Election, many of the nation's major broadcast media outlets adopted a policy of not reporting or projecting which candidate has carried a state until all the polls are closed in that state. It should be noted that these major media corporations have made and adopted similar policies in the past that have not been adhered to. In 1985, many major networks reached an agreement with Congress to not announce results until a state's polls were closed. There are, of course, many other media outlets from which voters may still hear projections regarding ongoing contests, and it is unclear whether local network affiliates will refrain from projecting winners in Florida's statewide election contests until the polls in the panhandle close.

Because content based prior restraints on political speech are virtually prohibited by the First Amendment, government cannot effectively impede the conduct of exit polls by VNS. States' attempts to bar or discourage exit polling have been consistently rejected.

[link for above quote]. IIRC, the VNS is now defunct, so maybe they all rely on the AP exit polls these days.

But they ARE exit polls, not counted votes.

[tobyhill]

Always a critic! Can't stand success.